TRENTON — In interviews this morning on NBC’s "Today Show " and MSNBC’s " Morning Joe", Gov. Chris Christie played interference for GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney — and promoted economic policies unveiled Tuesday in his State of the State address.

Calling Christie a “disclosure guy,” Matt Lauer, a host of the "Today Show", asked the Republican governor about Romney’s reluctance to release his tax returns after revealing he’s taxed at a rate of about 15 percent. Christie said Romney would probably make the documents public in April, which Lauer noted is well after he could have the Republican nomination wrapped up.

“What I would say to Governor Romney is if you have tax returns to put out,” he said, “you should put them out and you put them out sooner rather than later because it’s always better in my view to have full disclosure, especially when you’re the frontrunner."

Christie – who has made five campaign trips for Romney since endorsing him in October – defended the former Massachusetts governor’s record at Bain Capital, a private investment firm where he made his fortune, and labeled New Gingrich’s attacks “stunning.”

“From the guy who had a half million credit line from Tiffany’s?" Christie said of the former speaker. "Yeah, I think that’s a bit of a problem."

Lauer likened the criticism of Romney to Christie’s comparison of former Gov. John Corzine to a “Gordon Gekko-type character” during the 2009 campaign. Christie said at the time that he objected to Corzine spending his Wall Street earnings to “buy political office.”

Turning to his State of the State ­ address – Lauer nearly slipped and called it his “State of the Union” address – Christie explained the line: “The politics of envy have overtaken the imperative of opportunity,” which draws on language Romney uses on the stump.

Christie’s statement that “divided government can work if there’s strong executive leadership,” takes on new resonance the day after he proposed a 10 percent across-the-board income tax cut, which was immediately panned by Democrats who control the Legislature.

On "Morning Joe," Christie told Willie Geist , one of the co-hosts, that his tax policies would make New Jersey competitive with such states as New York and Connecticut , which are raising taxes, and beat the drum of compromise. Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) Tuesday called the proposal a “b.s. tax cut."

Both television appearances gave Christie the chance to talk about his lack of interest in running for vice president. “I don’t think I’m the type of personality who is going to be asked by anybody to run for vice president,” he said, still neglecting to rule it out. “They’d have to hire a food taster. They wouldn’t want that.”

This afternoon, Christie will hold his first town hall of the year in Voorhees, followed by three radio interviews and an appearance at New Jersey Agricultural Convention in Atlantic City. Another town hall is scheduled for Thursday morning at Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington. On Friday he plans to travel to Baltimore, where he will address the House Republican retreat.